Stanford, Texas A&M share first round lead at the Carmel Cup
Jennie Park (TAMU photo)
With one of the game's most iconic venues serving as a spectacular backdrop, the women's college golf season teed off on Friday at the Pebble Beach Golf Links where defending national champion Stanford and Texas A&M share the first-round lead of the Carmel Cup.
On a sparkling late summer's day on the Monterey Peninsula, the defending national champion Cardinal and the 11th-ranked Aggies matched 2-under scores of 358 in the 6-count-5 format, giving each school a six-shot lead over Oklahoma State heading into Saturday's second round.
Arkansas (+11) and Texas Tech (+17) to round out the top five.
Texas A&M's
Jennie Park paced Texas A&M on day one, carding a 6-under 66 on the famed links. On the strength of four consecutive birdies on hole Nos. 2-5, The Carrollton, Texas native went out in 4-under 32 and then picked up two more on the back, including on the famed 18th, to secure her 66.
"I know what we have, and we can play with anyone," said Texas A&M head coach Gerrod Chadwell, who guided the Aggies to a semifinal appearance in last year's NCAA Championships. "I am not sure if I totally expected this performance based off how we played this summer, but I know on any given day we can do great things. We had a great start which gave us a lot of confidence for the rest of the day. Jennie [Park] was in complete control and picked up where she left off at NCAAs last year."
Rose Zhang, last year's NCAA individual champion and ANNIKA Award winner, is in hot pursuit of Park after turning in a 4-under 68. Fresh off an appearance at last weekend's World Amateur Team Championships in France, the world's top-ranked amateur showed no signs of jet lag, as she had six birdies and just two bogeys on her Friday card.
Highly-touted Stanford freshman
Megha Ganne, who played in the final grouping of the
2021 U.S. Women's Open at the Olympic Club as a 17-year-old high school junior, shot a 3-under 69 in her collegiate debut and is tied for third with Oklahoma State's
Han-Hsuan Yu.
Sadie Englemann joins Zhang and Ganne in red numbers after an opening round 68 left her tied for fifth place.
The Carmel Cup will continue on Saturday and Sunday at Pebble Beach.
ABOUT THE
Women's Carmel Cup
Started in 2022, the Women's Carmel Cup is a 54-
hole women's
college
event played at
the
Number 1 ranked public golf course in the United
States, Pebble Beach Golf Links. Its field comprised
mostly of
top teams from the Big 12 and SEC. There are team
(best five scores out of six
players each round) and individual competitions.
View Complete Tournament Information